Calvin's Theory of Reading

Abstract

Central to John Calvin's doctrine of Scripture, a doctrine basic to his theology and highly influential in his own time and subsequently, is a theory of reading. His doctrine, then, focuses not so much on the biblical text or on its origins as on the act of reading it. Three things are required for understanding and appreciating Calvin's theory of reading. The first includes the various sources upon which he drew and various influences exerted on him; the second exposes the conditions and dynamics crucial to this kind of reading; and the third points to consequences of his theory both for the Christian life and church and for the culture, including the rise and development of modernity.